With a legal dispute boiling around them in federal court, corporate Steak ‘n Shake did the one thing it still could to its only two Colorado franchises: It pulled the plug on its computerized cash-register system.

That was Thursday, a day after the Indiana-based restaurant known for its pressed steak burgers instructed the only supplier of Steak ‘n Shake products in Colorado to stop shipping the franchises the very ingredients and items that make the place so popular with consumers.

That has forced the owners of SnS restaurants in Centennial and Sheridan to buy their own cash registers, turning the old-style restaurant into an old-school diner, with workers ringing up handwritten order tickets and doing other once-automated processes by hand. And for those who didn’t have cash to pay for their meal, the only solution was a free lunch, according to court papers filed late Thursday.

Shutting down the computerized system “would be the final death knell for these stores,” manager Mark Clark said in a sworn affidavit.

In a battle that appears to have moved from the courtroom to the parking lot, local Steak ‘n Shake franchisees Kathryn and Larry Baerns and their son, Christopher, requested a temporary restraining order Thursday in U.S. District Court to unravel the mess they say are vindictive steps.

A hearing is scheduled for Friday.

The Baernses and Steak ‘n Shake are in a court fight over rights to run the restaurants.

The Baernses say they were deceived into thinking the stores would be more profitable than reality has shown, and headquarters says the family has been overcharging customers by not sticking with national pricing plans and wants them out.

Those allegations “are absolutely untrue,” Christopher Baerns said in an affidavit, noting how the computer system that ties the franchises together wouldn’t allow for disparate pricing.

Though that case is pending, SnS corporate simply disconnected the computer system at the local shops, which included the cash registers that not only track prices and orders but allow for credit-card purchases, employee payroll, drive-through processing and other key parts of the business.

The family wants the restraining order because “by taking actions that are designed to cut off at the knees” their ability to run the restaurants while the case is pending, corporate headquarters changed the status quo from when the lawsuit was initiated last month. Shutting off the computer system is “a blatant effort to suffocate (the Baernses’) ability to continue to operate Steak ‘n Shake franchised restaurants,” they said in court papers.

Officials at Steak ‘n Shake’s corporate offices did not immediately respond to efforts to reach them late Thursday.

In their request for the order, the Baernses said they prepaid for access to the computer system through the end of August.

Food supplier Sysco is their sole source for Steak ‘n Shake products under the franchisee agreement. The Baernses say it costs more to run the restaurant in Denver than in other parts of the country, costs they say were not revealed to them.

David is a member of the Investigations Team and has been at The Denver Post since 1999. He was a founding member of the team before writing about banking, finance, human services, consumer affairs, and business investigations. He has also worked at newspapers in New York, St. Louis and Detroit over a 35-year career that began at The Post.

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